Wolves blog: Can Kenny Jackett's men compete in the EFL Championship?

Aston Villa's new owner Dr Tony Xia is ready to offer Roberto Di Matteo a war chest in an attempt to return to the Premier League and become a world power.

Newcastle United have signed Dwight Gayle and Matt Ritchie, totalling a reported £25m – having already signed goalkeeper Matz Sels for £5m.

It is safe to say that the Championship is not what it used to be...writes Wolves blogger Tom Tracey.

Eight-figure fees are fast becoming a regular feature towards the top end of the league – and big money is not even a guarantee of success, as Derby have shown in recent years.

But the Championship pond is doubtlessly getting bigger by the year – Wolves are no longer one of the bigger fish and the longer the club-up-for-sale saga continues, the more of a minnow they become.

Whilst Newcastle and Villa are obviously benefitting from large parachute payments following last season's relegation, they will still have hefty wage bills to contend with – something Wolves no longer have.

Mostly, transfer rumours are linking the club to either British or European lower-league players or loan signings.

So it was interesting to hear that Kevin Thelwell has been scouting at the Copa America. It is difficult to think of a player that is both going to be available at the right price to Wolves, and be ready to play in the Championship.

In 2007, Wolves signed a young Brazilian named Guilherme Finkler on a season-long loan from Juventude. However, he never managed a competitive appearance and the loan was cut short.

Other than Argentinian goalkeeper Martinez – who joined Arsenal's academy in 2010 and so had previous experience in England, it is difficult to think of anyone who succeeded at Wolves who hails from this part of the world.

Perhaps Wolves are trying to gain a competitive edge through a different transfer market to the domestic one, where they are now being outmuscled by many Championship clubs prepared to offer more money. But it seems strange when they have never really had previous success in this market.

As more and more Championship clubs ramp up the spending and improve their squads, Wolves are left in limbo by off-the-field issues and it is no wonder that the bookies are offering Wolves among the lower odds for relegation in May.

Whilst relegation is currently unlikely it is a feasible outcome – the squad has only seen goalkeeper Andy Lonergan come in to compete with Carl Ikeme when many outfield positions are still rather weak. The squad, as a whole, is quite poor – and the bookies' odds reflect that.

However, the recent and persistent rumours that Wolves are set to be taken over by a Chinese multi-billionaire, along with the replacement of Kenny Jackett for Julen Lopetegui, could potentially alter Wolves' fortunes drastically.

Whether the rumour becomes substance, we will find out in the coming days, but something has to happen for Wolves to compete at the top end of the table again.

As the relegated teams come into the Championship with more and more money through bigger parachute payments, Wolves are at risk of being cut adrift from a higher tier of teams within the league.

New ownership with a clear mission could set Wolves back on track, but currently the club is falling far behind other rivals.